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This is the story I wrote for NaNoWriMo. It is about a man who is being tortured by nightmares about a week. Warning, it is quite graphic. I do hope you enjoy. I'll see you on the Dark Side of Moon. 01:02, December 14, 2011 (UTC)

Nightmare #1

It was a sunny afternoon in Fort Mont ,Rhode Island. Neil Stuberhoff, a young, middle-aged man was coming home from his occupation as an Architect at The King's Men Construction Company. He was a nice fellow, well-mannered, and prosperous. Neil had a small home to himself, and his car was in the garage for repairs after the little fender-bender he had a few days ago. Neil was happy living by himself. Neil didn't really have any problems, until that night.

During the night, Neil had a dream. More like a nightmare of sorts. Complete darkness surrounded him, nothing was visible, and he did not know what may lie within it. Although, he could see only himself, fully clothed in his suit. The atmosphere began to cool, slowly descending in temperature. As it did, Neil began to feel the effects, and started shivering. He was frightened by this, not knowing what will happen, or why this is happening. Of course it is a dream, but, why this? Neil thought to himself these questions, and tried to stay warm in the meanwhile by holding himself.

The cooling stopped. After, Neil heard a growl, one that resembles a dog, but distorted. He took a look around, but still saw nothing. He could hear it coming closer too. Neil did not know how to take action, so he just stood there, hoping it would go away, but it did not. Abruptly, what would look like a dead dog attacked Neil, as it jumped from the darkness, landing on him. In his head, he heard a screeching noise, one that could make ears bleed, and give headaches.

The dog was tearing away at his suit, trying to bite him as Neil tried to defend himself. Then, the dog chomped a chunk out of his chest. Neil yelled at the top of his lungs in excruciating pain. The demon took another chunk from his left arm. Neil punched the dog in the head, trying his best to kill it, but it was futile. The dog seemed to not be phased no matter how many times Neil batted at it. The corpse kept eating away at Neil’s flesh. Blood spilled everywhere, as Neil began to lose consciousness. His intestines were next to be ripped out. Surprisingly, Neil was still awake. A normal human would pass out, or die by then. He was being tormented, very horribly.

The dog stopped tearing, and backed off into the darkness. Neil lied there speechless, horrified so much he couldn’t scream. He just looked in terror at his body. It was ripped wide open. All of his entrails, and organs were splattered along the floor beside him. He wanted to wake up from this night terror, even die if he had to, but it seems the rules of mortality had no effect. Neil attempted to move, but could not. The atmosphere began to descend in temperature again. He could feel the cold in his body, as it began to slowly freeze. The blood on him, and around him froze, and his organs were frosty. Same for the inside of his body. The sharp pain grew more, and more. Neil did not know such pain could exist besides in Hell.

Over a pass of time, his body was completely frozen, yet he was still awake. The pain from his body being torn asunder was still there, also the earsplitting noise was still scraping at his mind. He saw a gleam above, then another, and another. They were coming towards him, and he saw that they were three swords. They soon landed on three places in his body. His throat, left, and right knees. When they struck, his body shattered. Then, he woke up.

Neil arisen from his bed very quickly. Breathing heavily, and checking to see if his body was still ravaged. To his relief, it was not. He made a sigh, calmed down, and had breakfast. Had a nice bowl of oatmeal, and a plate of French toast accompanied with a glass of apple cider. Afterwards, he felt better, and got ready for work. With his car still in the repair shop, he had to walk their, and back again today. Grabbing his suitcase, he fixed his tie, and walked out the door, closing it on the way out. It was a pleasant sunny morning in Fortmont. The sky was blue, a few clouds overhead, and the suburban landscape was easy on the eye. A slight breeze, and the temperature was cool.

Neil said hello to a few of his neighbors, and even had a small conversation with an old Italian man named Vincenti Romaldo.

“Good morning Mr. Romaldo!”, Neil said with joy. “Ahh, Buon giorno Signore Stuberhoff! How did you sleep my friend?”, Mr. Romaldo asked. “Eh, not too good, but I am still well.”, Neil answered honestly. “Tonight, you should go to bed earlier. Hopefully you will catch up on sleep.”. “I will Mr. Romaldo.”, Neil assured the old man. “Oh, before you head off, did you hear about the unfortunate accidents in Oklahoma?”, Mr. Romaldi asked. “Accidents?”. “Yes, a few suicides took place there. It happened only a few days ago. I pray for their souls everyday.”, Vincenti said worried. “That’s just not right. I will also pray for them, as well as the families that are burdened by this.”, Neil replied. “Very good, I do hope you do, but I know you will. You’re a kind man Signore.”. “Thank you sir. I’ll be back in the evening. Have a nice day.”, Neil said walking off. “Thank you, and you also!”, Mr. Romaldi said while sweeping the leaves.

Neil made it to work. He works for a construction company named The King’s Workers. It’s a fairly large corporation in Rhode Island. His occupation is as an Architect, designing new buildings, chiefly for his area. Neil has been in the job for about a year. He’s been liking it so far. He built a few successful homes, and an add-on to the nearby supermarket.

Today he had to go to a conference after work. It would last until the evening, and would have to skip dinner. He knew, so he packed a larger lunch. It was about the new building Neil had the honor to create, the new Town Hall. Neil has been thinking about it for a week, and has been drawing his ideas down rigorously. Two nights ago, he came up with his final structure, and couldn’t wait for today.

As he arrived to the company building, and made his way through the halls, he bumped into his manager’s secretary. She was Katherine Hughes, a lovely young brunette woman about the age of Neil.

“Oh, I apologize Ms. Hughes, I didn’t see you. Although, how could I not?”, Neil said nonchalantly. “Oh no, it’s fine. Nothing was dropped, so nothing was hurt.”, replied Katherine, as if the compliment went right through her. “Good luck at the meeting later Mr. Stuberhoff. I’m sure you’ll please the employers.”, Katherine said smiling. “Thank you Ms. Hughes. Have a pleasant day.”.

Neil went through the day eager for the conference to come, and sooner than he expected, it did. At the conference, he showed the employers his designs for the structure, and they were glad with what they saw. They gave it the go, and Neil was exuberant. Construction would begin next week.

It was finally time to go home, and he couldn’t wait to get a small nosh, and head to bed. It was evening as he said he would be heading home by. The atmosphere didn’t seem creepy at all actually. Although, he did notice a little red in the corner of his eye. Neil strayed off the sidewalk to see what it was. The red was in a splatter shape, and when he looked in front of it, a trail of blood lead to a dead body. Neil was shocked by this. He had to check who it was, and unbeknownst to him, it was Mr. Romaldi. He couldn’t believe it, the nice old man who lived down the street was dead.

Neil started to weep a little. There were multiple stabs in the body, and a bloody pair of scissors lying beside it. He called 9-1-1, and they came rather quickly. The paramedics confirmed he was dead, and loaded Mr. Romaldi’s corpse into a body bag, onto a stretcher, and into the utility vehicle. A small crowd gathered around the scene, and the police questioned Neil as to what might have happened. Neil had no answer, just that he found the body, and the blood was already dried.

Neil went home disgusted, woeful, and terrified. If someone murdered him, who, and why would they have done such a thing? If Mr. Romaldi committed suicide, why? The man had a nice life. He didn’t seem disturbed, or anything. Maybe, it was a combination of both murder, and suicide. Maybe there was an influence behind it, something that convinced Mr. Romaldi of such a thing.

Neil also realized the two incidents. His dream, and Romaldi’s death. It may be too soon to judge, but was this a coincidence, or part of some sequence? Neil pondered this as he prepared, and went to bed early as he promised Mr. Romaldi.

Nightmare #2

Neil woke up to another day, surprised he didn’t have a nightmare. When he got out of bed, he noticed that he was already fully clothed in his suit. It was a Saturday, and he had no work to do at all. There was no sunshine, rather it was gloomy outside, with a slight drizzle. Weird thing is, there was no forecast for there to be rain, and grey clouds until Monday. He walked around the house, and things seemed normal. Neil took a look outside, and there was nobody around. No people, no animals, no sentient being could be seen. It looked like a ghost town, and there was a fog on the ground that went up to his knees.

Neil walked around a bit, trying to find someone he could talk to, or something to help him find out what was going on. Suddenly, he heard what would sound like metal friction together, and a deep moan that sounded warped, and evil. He tried to get away from it, and he saw what looked like a human in front of him. Neil couldn’t see the details of the figure, but he walked towards it to see if he could talk to that person. He greeting the figure, and it turned around. It had a human shape, but was not human. It’s body looked demented, and had a small girder for an arm. It looked at him, and moaned again. It moaned louder, and louder as Neil walked away. Then, it started to run after him, and the screeching sound that wreaked torture on Neil’s mind came back.

Neil was running for his life. He didn’t care what it was, he just wanted out. He ran back to his home, entered it, and locked the door behind him. He didn’t see it anymore when he peered out the window. Neil sat down in front of the door, rested his feet, and regaining his breath. Unexpectedly, a metal girder pounded a hole through the door. The monster was already there. Neil got up from the floor, and made his way through the house. The monster was fast with taking down the door, and was 2 meters behind him. Neil ran upstairs, and hid in the bathroom. Luckily, again, the monster seemed to not know where he was.

The bathroom was rather small. Just a toilet, hamper, shower, and sink. He was sitting in the shower with the curtain closed. Heart beating fast, and eyes wide open. The curtain was ripped away, and the monster was right there. Neil looked dead at the monster’s eyes. When he did, the screeching noise grew louder, and louder, and louder. He screamed from the pain, and his eyes, ears, and mouth exploded with blood. Then, the monster took it’s arm, and bashed Neil’s left arm, crushing every bone, and muscle in that space. It kept hitting the arm. Soon, the arm was completely flat, with it’s bones turned to dust, and muscles turned to paste.

The monster did the same to his right arm, and legs. Then, it crushed him in the chest, destroying his upper organs. Blood poured from every orifice. Neil wanted to yell, but couldn’t. The monster also crushed his lower abdomen as well. The entire shower was red with blood. Finally, the monster raised it’s arm, and bashed in Neil’s head. Neil woke up again.

Neil was screaming at the top of his lungs as he jumped in his bed. His pulse was high, and he was immensely terrified. He slowly began to weep, and got up from his bed. “A second night in a row?”, he thought to himself. Neil convinced himself that he needed help. So he set up an appointment with the psychiatrist, Dr. Schlebenhoek, and luckily right on that day. Neil entered his office, and talked to him.

“So, what is wrong Mr. Stuberhoff?”, asked Dr. Schlebenhoek. “Well, umm, I have been having these nightmares recently, two nights in a row. I am worried that I may have something wrong with me.”, answered Neil. “Neil, nightmares are actually a common thing. About 75% of dreams have some sort of extreme sadness, horror, and whatnot. What do you think makes yours so special?”. “Err, I can’t really say, but the dreams are extremely real. My senses are fully there in them. Also, in each one, I was brutally murdered, or actually, brutalized, but could not die at all. My body was bashed into a pancake in last night’s dream, and I still felt the pain, as if I was still alive.”. “That must have been a tremendous amount of pain Mr. Stuberhoff.”, sympathized the doctor. “Please, tell me these dreams…”.

Neil told the doctor his nightmares, and Dr. Schlebenhoek had a little trouble deciphering them. He said to come back tomorrow at around 4 in the afternoon. So Neil did, and the doctor had an answer, “I may not have a completely clear answer, but, I have tried my best. Your mind is telling you to be afraid of death, because you may seem to be too high on life. You need to sober yourself down a bit. Yet again, I don’t think that is you, Mr. Stuberhoff.”, said Dr. Schlebenhoek. “Thank you, it makes some sense, and there is a hint of truth in everything. So I’ll take that into consideration.”, said Neil. “Good boy. Now if you have anything else to talk about, let me know. I am interested in this myself. This just may mean something deeper than a realization of mortality.”, suggested the doctor. “Of course. You’re the only person I can really come to other than Pastor Rigliotti.”

Neil was glad he could trust Dr. Schlebenhoek with this information. He was hoping these over-the-top nightmares would stop, trying to solve the problem as early as possible. Neil left the offices building, and took a quick trip to the grocery store. He had to get bread, for he was low at home. Neil prefers white bread over wheat, but he gets wheat anyway. Neil entered the store, and picked up the bread from the appropriate aisle, then bought it at the counter. He left, and went for home. Neil wanted his car back, it would make travel a lot easier, and faster. It was an old Cadillac he got from his dad, the '86 DeVille. Sure it vacuums gas like an alcoholic with beer, but it was rugid, and dependable in the winter. Neil just didn't want a huge dent in the back bumper while driving around.

He got home, entered through the door, and locked it behind him. He placed the loaf of bread on a counter in the kitchen, and sat down in a chair in the living room. Neil wanted to see what was on the news, so he switched on the television set, and turned it to RINN, Rhode Island News Network. Right away it was a story about death. Multiple suicides actually, but not in Oklahoma this time, but rather South Carolina. Neil began to wonder if this was a coincidence, or something worse. Sick of hearing such things, he switched it to another channel. His phone rang beside him, and the Caller I.D said James Gertz, whom was his manager.

Neil answered the phone, "Uh, hello sir. How are you?". "Good, I just wanted to congratulate you on the success. You're a real company champion Neil.", Mr. Gertz said pridefully. "Thank you sir, I was really glad it was accepted.", Neil replied. "Excellent, I gotta go now. Take it easy Mr. Stuberhoff.", Mr. Gertz said hastily. "You too". Mr. Gertz hanged up on the other end, and Neil placed down the phone. He was happy about his success, but his nightmares were the only thing holding him back. Later, he went to bed, and hoped to not have a nightmare.

Nightmare #3

His dream began. The man wakes up, and finds himself in a bright, white, small room. An I.V was in his arm, and is flat on his back. He slowly begins to panic, thinking he was put right back into Hell. His heart began to race, and so did the heartbeat monitor. He thought he needed to escape, so he took out the tube in his arm, and got up. Wearing only a hospital gown, he searches around the room. The man approaches the window, and saw he was some stories high. Neil exited out the door.

It looked like he was in a hallway. The walls, and ceiling were metallic, and the floor concrete. There were no lights, except the one he was standing below. Looking around, it still seemed uninhabited. It was cold, and there was nothing anywhere. All he heard was a small wind blowing through the corridor, creating a hollow sound. It was indeed very eerie.Neil walked forward a little, and he heard breathing. The breathing was weezy, and it sounded like there was something obstructing the airways. then, he heard a voice.

"Neeiiilll....", a creepy voice said. Neil looked around for it, still finding nothing. "I'm coming after yoouuu... Better find a place to hiiiide...", it said. "What?", Neil said afraid. He paniced, and treaded through the dark corridors searching for a room to hide in. To his misfortune, he could not locate, nor see anything. He tried to feel the walls, but they were too cold for his hands too stay on.

A wind came through the corridors, making an eerie, hollow sound. Then, the light he appeared under before, suddenly flashed off. Neil noticed a floating figure, which was the only thing visible in the dream besides himself. The ghost was blood red, and a hood draped over it’s head, causing the face to be covered in a shadow.It started charging after him, so he started running blindly further into the darkness. Neil banged against something that was like a door, because he heard what sounded like a knob shaking.

He quickly got back up, and felt around for a knob. The walls were still very cold, but he ignored it. The fear rose above the pain. To his luck, Neil found what felt like a knob, and turned it. He then heard what sounded like an unlocking noise, and pushed forward. When he stepped into the next room, he saw there were a few lights on, but it looked like a hospital. He really didn’t care, that ghost was chasing him, and he had to keep moving.

Neil was starting to run out of breath, he had to find somewhere to hide, so he dashed around a corner, and quickly went into a room, and closed the door behind him. The room seemed to be a confinement room, where the more special psychological patients are put so they can’t do any more unruly things. He hid in there for a small while, then he peeked out to see if the ghost was still there. It was not there, the corridors seemed empty, so Neil decided to take a look around, still being wary of the ghost.

The walls didn’t seem cold either, and he could read the signs pointing to rooms, and such.Not too far down the hall, was the Head Doctor’s Office. Neil slowly made his way there, trying to stay as quiet as possible. The door was not locked, and walked in. The room seemed tidy, like it hasn’t been touched. He searched around, and found a few files of papers. One file stood out from the rest.

May 17th, 2009. Greenville Psychiatric Ward, Greenville, Georgia.

Patient: Leopold Cromwell

Diagnosis: Insane, Double Personality

Assigned Doctor: Cheryl Ferguson

“The patient seems to not be recuperating. He is still the same, even through hours of treatment. He shows what seems to be a normal side, and another that seems to be sinister, and demonic. During the phase of his demonic side, we have monitored him a few times. While not interacting with sentient life, he sits there, staring into space, with a creepy smile, and a scary look in his eyes.

The first time we chose to allow someone to interact with him, it appeared odd. The patient’s voice sounded deeper, and his head tilted slightly to the side. When I asked him if he wanted to share anything, he said, “You will all die… Your own minds will betray you, and begin to slowly fade away into the depths of Hell.” When I asked him why, he responded, “All of you humans are pathetic, and do NOT deserve to live.”. The patient then became angry, and volatile. When I got up slowly, he jumped at me, and bit my arm.

The next few times, they put me behind a barrier to keep me safe. He said the same thing every time, and reacted the same also. No progress was made in the time he was here.

In the time he is normal, he appears to be calm, but unresponsive- similar to the disorder of Schizophrenia. When in his room, he huddles in the corner, sometimes mumbling to himself unrecognizable words.

We occasionally let him walk around outside, but is guarded by security, so that other patients are not in danger. Luckily, his dark side has not shown up while wandering the grounds.

I will continue to try my best, but I don’t guarantee much.”

Neil kept this patient in mind. He seems like someone Neil should know, so he folded the paper, and put it in his pocket. He searched around for anything else, and found a lighter with some fluid in it. He kept that incase he had to move through the darkness again. Neil then peeked out the door to see if the ghost was there, and luckily it was not there again. He slowly walked out, and closed the door behind him to leave no trace.

At the one end of the hallway, the lights were flickering, and it didn’t seem too safe. Plus, Neil walked forward a little, and heard a girl crying, and talking. He had no clue what it was, and was startled. Was it in his head? Was it real? Either way, he didn't want to find out. Due to this, Neil wanted to investigate the other rooms first, so he found the Storage Room door to the far end of the hall to the right. He quietly made his way down the hall. Neil passed by many doors, which belonged to mostly the patients who attended this ward. When he got to the door, he turned the knob, and as soon as he did, the ghost came back. It was charging at him from behind, so he hastily opened it, and dashed through the door.

The Storage wasn’t too friendly either. Neil kept running through the small pathways, trying to confuse the ghost. Weaving his way through the openings between the holes of darkness, He tripped over an unforeseen box, and landed face first into the ground. He rolled over, and the ghost was there. He tried to crawl away, but the horror grabbed his feet, and dragged him. Neil tried to hold onto a metal pole that was stuck in the ground, but was very cold, like the walls were before.

Neil held on for his life. The ghost was pulling very hard, and the pole being cold didn’t help either. He was being stretched; he could feel it in his thighs, biceps, and abdomen. Finally, he couldn’t hold on for much longer. Neil let go, and was dragged into the darkness. He remembered the lighter he found earlier, and attempted to light it up. It only worked for a few seconds, until it burned out. He could see he was being transported through a very narrow passageway.

Soon, he could feel a blast of cool air envelope him. After, he felt his body being slammed against the wall. The grip on his ankles was released also. Neil lay there, waiting to be ripped asunder, but nothing happened. After a few minutes of quietness, he tried to stand up. He did, but his ankles were in pain from the tight grip the ghost had on him. Neil slowly waddled in a random direction, and then hit a wall.

He felt around for any bumps, and accidentally hit a light switch, and the whole room was illuminated. Neil became dizzy, and nearly threw up at the sight he saw. Bloody corpses were hanging from the ceiling. The room was what seemed to be a meat locker. He held his collar in front of his mouth, and nose, to keep him from inhaling the gross scent. Neil tried to open the door leading out, but the knob was jammed.

There was a ventilation shaft up n the one corner. It wasn’t too high, and maybe he could squeeze through it. He swayed his way through the corpses, and rattled the shaft’s cover. Luckily, it seemed corroded, and aged from the dampness, and coolness of the room. Neil broke it off, and climbed into the vent.

It was even cooler than the room, the vent was. He crawled through the pathways, and it became tighter as he went on. Soon, another cover came up. He peeked through, and it was a cell. Neil broke through the cover, and carefully made his way down into the cell. He searched around in it, and saw markings on the wall. They read…

“Die… Die… Die… They will all… Die…”

It said so repeatedly all along the wall. This reminded Neil of Cheryl Ferguson’s report on Leopold Cromwell. He said the human’s will all die someday. It was quite possible this was his cell. There was only a bed, but how can the patient have etched the markings in the wall with no tool?Neil approached the cell’s metal doors, and opened it. Why it wasn’t locked, he didn’t know.

The halls were still a little lit, but mostly dark. He looked over the railing in front of the cell, and it seemed as though he was on the second floor. Neil slowly walked down the aisle, holding onto the railing as he passed by many of the cells. They were all empty, and there was an ending to the balcony. He turned right, and went down a flight of stairs.

There was a set of double doors beside him, and a long trail of blood leading from it. Neil tried to open it, but it was locked, so he was forced to follow the red trail into the unknown. As he walked by, the doors of a nearby cell started to rattle.

Abruptly, the cell’s doors were knocked down, but nothing was there. Neil ignored it, and kept going. He then hit a wall in the darkness that was moving, and it slowly pushed him backwards, until he reached the cell that it's doors came down. It seemed something wanted him to look in there, and he was in no position to argue with anything. So, he stood back up, and walked into the cell. When he did, the cell's doors repaired themselves, and locked him in.

It was a trap, probably set up by the ghost that was chasing him earlier. Neil didn't know what to do, see he frantically looked around. When he looked under the bed, he noticed a large piece of fabric laying flat on the floor. He took it away, and saw a large hole in the ground.

Neil moved away the bed, and peered inside the hole. It was a man-made hole, probably dug by whoever occupied this cell. Since it was his only option of a way out, he crawled into it, barely fitting. The hole was very dark, with roots sticking out from the walls. Neil crawled through the hole, getting himself soiled from scraping against the dirt. A light started to show far down the tunnel. Neil crawled a little faster in hope of reaching before something happens.

To his misfortune, right when he arrived to the opening, it was covered by something very heavy. It seems he was trapped, and he didn’t know what to do. He chose to crawl back to the cell, in hope the hopes of something else happened as well. Before he could move, he heard rustling down the tunnel. Neil tried to se what was there, and only saw a wave of a mass of black moving toward him. Soon, this mass crawled onto his body, and it crawled all over him.

Neil held his hand up to eyes to help him see what it was. When he did, he saw a few Black Widows, but they seemed mutant rather than normal. He panicked, and moved around in fear. The spiders started to bite him all over, and Neil grunted in pain. He could literally feel his skin rotting away, and it felt as though it was burning also. As he opened his mouth to scream, a few of the spiders went down into his throat.

Neil could feel the spiders crawling, and biting in his body. Two spiders bit his eyes, and he immediately went blind. Then, something slithered into his eyes, it wasn’t a spider, more like a worm, and it tore through his eardrums, and further into his cranium. By now, his body was already rotting to the bone. As he was being tortured by the spiders, the worms got to his brain, and started to eat away at it. Finally, a wall of flame whooshed through the tunnel, and incinerated everything within it.

Neil woke up from this nightmare. This was the third in a row, and this wasn’t really a good thing. He got up from his bed, and slowly limped his way to the bathroom, because his foot was asleep. Neil went to Dr. Schlebenhoek to talk to him about his dreams again.

“Ahh, Mr. Stuberhoff. Please, come into my office.”, Schlebenhoek greeted. “What is it that you want to talk about?”. “Well Doctor, I had another nightmare again. It was longer, but it was actually a little more interesting.”, Neil said. “Why may that be?”, asked the doctor. “I was in a psychiatric ward, and I discovered a name of a patient. Have you ever heard of anyone by the name of Leopold Cromwell?”, asked Neil. “Hmm…”, the Doctor pondered. “I’ll look into it my friend. If this lone name is in your dream, then it must have some significance as to why you are having these nightmares. As I said before, this is interesting to me, so stop by tomorrow, and I’ll give you the information I have.”, commented Schlebenhoek.

“Thank you. Doctor, would you like to know what else happened in my dream?”. “Yes, every detail counts. Please, do tell.”. Neil told Dr. Schlebenhoek everything he could remember from the dream. Afterwards, Neil went home, and rested a small bit, and took a nap.

Nightmare #4

Even during naptime he had nightmares. This time, it wasn’t quite so dark around him. He was in what seemed to be an old factory. The machines around him were rusted, and the lights were dim. The room was very large, and the ceiling was about 30 feet high. He slowly walked around the area, and found the staircase’s door. He checked to see if it was unlocked, but it wasn’t. Neil noticed that the knob was rusty, and most of the door was rotting as well. With his best strength, he kicked down the door. When he got to the next floor, the sign above the door said, “Offices”.

To his luck, the door to it was not locked. The Offices were not as bad compared to the lower floor, but it was still in disarray. Papers were all over the place, printers knocked over, and desks abandoned. Neil searched around, and came to the Supervisor’s Desk. On it, was a file talking about one of the factory’s employees.

March 23rd, 2007

Employee Report: Leopold Cromwell

Supervisor: Herbert Faison

“Mr. Cromwell seems to not be getting along with his fellow employees. As a matter of fact, multiple employees say that he says under his breath, that he wishes them to die. He gets into arguments most of the time, and is cold towards anyone.

These things did not show during the interview, nor did anything say on his application. Nothing says he has an illness, and nothing is said to be going on at home. We do not know what is making him like this, but we gave him a few days off to see if he calms down. If he acts up again when he gets back, we’re afraid we might have to fire Mr. Cromwell.”

It seems as though this man’s behavior has been dated back even further. Since this place was abandoned, he took the file for himself, hoping to use it as a reference at some point. There was a few windows a long the wall behind him, so he peeked out. What he saw was the parking lot for the establishment. It was empty, no cars, or anything. Yet, when he took a second look, he saw a shadow moving in the one corner.

Very soon, the owner of that shadow appeared. It was a normal looking man in a suit, and beard, He was carrying a suitcase, and headed for the set of double doors at the one end of the building. Neil, fearing that this may be another thing to torture him, tried to stay as quiet as possible when going throughout the complex.

Neil searched around the Offices some more for anything. He investigated a few cabinets, and saw nothing much, but maps, which were of no use to him. Nothing of use was found, so he went back downstairs into the factory portion. To his discovery, all of the lights were turned on, as if they were still in working condition. The rust on the machines was gone too. Also, he heard footsteps coming from the other side of the large room, so Neil ducked behind a machine. As the echo of the footsteps came closer, Neil became more worried that he might be discovered.

Neil crawled along the ground under some machinery, and stayed there. The footstep's echoes were very loud, and he could see the feet move from left to right. They stopped dead in their tracks, and the man bent over, really low. He saw Neil, and asked what he was doing there, with a stern look on his face.

“What are doing here sir? You’re not one of the employees.”, the man asked. Neil stuttered, “I..I..I don’t know. I just woke up here.”. “Huhhhhhh, well, you’re not allowed here, alright?”. “Yeah, I know, I want to get out of here.”, Neil said. “Alright, I’ll show you out.”. The two started walking in the direction the man came from.

“What’s your name?”, Neil asked. “My name is Herbert Faison, I’m a Supervisor here.”, the man introduced himself. “Oh… Then would you know a man named Leopold Cromwell?”. “Oh, yes I would. We fired him yesterday. I hear he’s going to see some kind of psychiatrist. Why would you ask?”, Herbert said. “Just curious…”, Neil replied.

Neil figured that this was the time before Leopold went into the mental facility, not after. “You know, when I somehow woke up here, the building seemed as though as if it was abandoned for a few years. There was even rust on the machines, and most of the lights were off, flickering, or barely on. The Offices were all messed up too.”, Neil explained. “That’s odd, everything seems fine to me.”, Herbert said. “Yeah, that’s the weird part.”.

They made it to the double doors that the Supervisor came in from, and he opened the doors. “Alright, off you go. Have a nice day.”, Mr. Faison said. “Thank you”, Neil walked out the door. It was very early in the morning, so it seemed like nighttime. He heard some machinery turn on, which was odd, because there were no employees there yet. Neil took a peek in the small window, and saw Mr. Faison inspecting what’s going on. Then, another man came from nowhere, and grabbed Mr. Faison by the collar. They were both struggling, and the aggressive man was yelling at him. Neil could hear the muffled screams from both men.

Neil ran to the double doors, and tried to open them, but they were locked. So, he went back to the window to see what was going on. The aggressor threw Faison onto the conveyor belt. The Supervisor was slowly being dragged into the heater, used for quickly baking bread, dough, ect. Mr. Faison tried to get up, but the aggressor hit him with a tire iron to the gut.

It was too late for the Supervisor to try to get away. He slipped under the oven, and screamed as he started to painfully melt. He came out the other end looking horrible. Mr. Faison’s skin, wasn’t melted off completely, and looked like disgusting pizza. The clothes that were on were burning against his skin as well. His eyes were nonexistent too, probably seeped into his body after they melted. He was still alive too, and his yelling became even louder.

The attacking person came around in front, and turned on another machine. This time, it was the slicing machine that cut the dough into certain shapes. Mr. Faison slid under again, and was chopped into small squares. Blood poured everywhere, and the Supervisor finally died. Then, the attacker turned on one more machine.

The machine that was next was the thing that filled cupcakes, and other pastries, with frosting, and other fillings. Needles came down into the chopped up pieces of Mr. Faison, and squirted cream into them. The cream was overfilled, and oozed out of the open veins. Finally, the chopped up pieces were wrapped up, and packaged in small containers.

The aggressor walked up to one of the containers, and opened one of wrapped deserts. He ate it, and looked like he had a satisfied look on his face. Neil stood there in shock as all this happened. Neil looked around, and stared back into the window. The man was not there, and Neil wondered where he went. Suddenly, the man slammed against the window, laughing maniacally, and looking straight at Neil.

Neil jumped back out of fright, and fell on the ground. When he got back up, the aggressor ran through the door into the parking lot with the tire iron in his hand. Neil got up, and ran as fast as he could away from him. They both dashed into a nearby forest, as Neil tried to escape the man. The forest was thick, and it became dense with fog for some odd reason.

Neil could not see where he was going, he was running blind into the wilderness with a killer chasing his close by. Then, he reached a clearing, and kept running even at that point. The sound of animals, and insects littered the air, growing louder, and louder. Neil tripped over a stone object, and fell to the ground. He kept crawling, and it felt as though he was going upwards.

He hit his head on something, and the torches lying next to the object helped reveal that it was a large wooden door. He gripped the lock, and tried opening it, but it didn't budge. He turned around, and the killer was right there swining his tire iron. Neil dodged the first swing, that hit the door behind him, and got stuck.

While the killer was pulling out the iron, Neil jumped off the side of the stairs, and fell. Neil landed awkwardly, and twisted his knee. He crawled away, and found a small, vent like opening in the wall. He went into it, but the killer grabbed his feet. Neil fought back as he was being pulled out slowly. He grabbed a small stone, and whipped it at the hunter's head. The hunter let go, and placed his hands on his face out of pain. During so, Neil scurried into the small opening.

Discovery

Crawling through the vents, Neil panicked on where to turn, because he didn't want to approach a dead end. The dust, and cobwebs caused him to sneeze, and cough a few times. Funny thing is, the vents were not metallic, rather the same stone as he tripped over before. Finally he reached an opening. He crawled out, and stood up.

Neil was in a small, antique room. It seemed like a small study; there was a desk with papers, and books on it. On the wall, there was a painting of a castle. On the bottom right of the frame, there was a note left by the artist.

"To the castle of which we live in, Fort Mont."

The signature of the artist, and the date it was finished was etched out. With this, Neil knew he was in the castle of which the town was founded by. He took a candle, and lit it up with the proper tool lying next to it. Then, he went into the hallway through the door. He slowly paced through it, looking at all the doors that he passed. Each door had the name of it's owner on it, plated in silver.

When he got to the other end, he walked through another doorway into a much larger room. Morning light was shining through the cracks, and windows in the structure. There was a giant chandelier hanging from the very tall ceiling. Pillars wrapped in greenery, and a few statues here, and there. This was certainly something Neil can admire.

He continued through the main hall, and came across many other rooms, which were all easily accessible, due to all the doors being mysteriously unlocked. As he entered another smaller hallway, the castle started to shake a little, and some rocks fell. One hit Neil in the head, and knocked him out.

He awoke from his nap, but the time it took seemed like a deep slumber. It was already 7 in the morning of the next day.

Epilogue

3 months later...

Neil stopped having the nightmares ever since the one about the factory, and castle. He managed to continue life normally, and keep doing well at his occupation. Dr. Schlebenhoek did not find any record of a man named "Leopold Cromwell". So this must have been all made up by his mind to produce such a mystical nightmare.